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What Does a Jew Look Like?

In collaboration with Robert Stothard

What does a Jew look like?

Well, it’s complicated…

Too often, the answer seems to be: ‘Jews wear black hats, black coats and have beards.’ Like this:

Of course, some Jews do like that, but the answer to the question ‘what does a Jew look like’ is much more complicated – and much more interesting.

What does a Jew look like? was born out of a collaboration between Keith Kahn-Harris and Rob Stothard.  They met when Keith tracked down Rob, who took the photo above for Getty Images; a photo that has been used and reused hundreds of times in the British media. Together, they set out to put together a broader set of images of British Jews.

This book of portraits  showcases some of the many different ways men and women can be Jewish in Britain today. Alongside the portraits, each subject explains what it means to them to be a Jew  – a kind of ‘self-portrait’.

For those who don’t know what a Jew looks like – or for those who think they know – the book is designed to surprise, inform and beguile. For those who are Jewish, the book will perhaps introduce parts of the Jewish community that they may not be familiar with.

Click here to read the foreword by Stephen Bush.

 

Book cover of What Does a Jew Look Like?

First Published: April 12, 2022

Publisher: Five Leaves Book

Reviews for What Does a Jew Look Like?

This isn't a typical book about British Jewry.... A rare example of a book that's born out of frustration with the media and is also worthwhile.

I found the accounts of the contributors in their own words informative, Moving, and inspiring.

This is a book that is good for the Jews, giving us a more nuanced composite picture of ourselves – and hopefully for everyone else, particularly the media - who seek to write about us and understand us. Maybe, just maybe, they’ll be prepared to ask what a Jew, really and truly, happens to look like today